


East of the Sun and West of the Moon, the North Wind Brings Me Home

by ObsidionWingsofMidnight



Series: Lawlu Fairy Tale AU's [3]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - East of the Sun and West of the Moon Fusion, Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, M/M, This is my life now, You're Welcome, finally writing a fic that's mainly from luffy's pov so whaddya know, i'm on a fairy tale retelling binge, my apologies to all my other fics, no update schedule we die like men, that probably means less angst than usual lol, you know the drill
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-01-13 14:23:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21101456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObsidionWingsofMidnight/pseuds/ObsidionWingsofMidnight
Summary: When a white bear shows up at Luffy's home and offers to save his brother and gift his family with great riches, he doesn't hesitate to accept. It would hardly be the first time he made a big decision without considering the consequences, but something told him that this time the consequences would be far more severe if he messed things up.All he had to do was live with the bear for a year. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. But for reasons he can't understand, he can't seem to shake the feeling like he's supposed to know his new companion. He feels almost familiar. But he would certainly know if he'd befriended a talking bear before.Wouldn't he?





	1. Prologue

“Please, I’ll do whatever you ask! Just let me save them!” he cried, trying to move around his captor in a vain attempt to reach the bodies that littered the ground. Calling their condition “critical” was an understatement. Blood stained the snow around them, nearly black in the scant moonlight. 

“Anything?” That taunting smile crept across his face- too wide, and too sharp. 

He was ashamed to admit that he was near tears, but what other choice did he have? He knew what the other wanted, what he was going to ask. He had been resigned to live out the remainder of his life with the curse, without bothering to try and break it, but that was no longer an option. He had nothing else to offer. 

He couldn’t let them die. It was his fault they were like this, and all for what? Because the hapless little fool had stumbled upon him by accident? That wasn’t fair. It wasn’t his fault. 

Not that anything in life was fair, but this… He couldn’t bear this burden. 

He swallowed past the growing lump in his throat. “Yes. Anything.”

Wider and wider the smile grew, white teeth gleaming in the dark. He clucked his tongue once. “Now, that’s what I like to hear. We still have that troublesome little enchantment to deal with of course. I’ll tell you what- I’ll be generous. Three years,” he crooned, holding up his fingers before tapping them against the other’s parka- one for each year. The soft fur  smoldered with each touch. “Three years to try and break the enchantment. But if you haven’t succeeded by then-”

“I know,” he bit out. He’d had enough of dancing around the topic. They both knew how this was going to turn out as soon as they’d stepped outside. Every word was another second wasted. He was running out of time. 

The gleaming smile didn’t waver. “We have a deal, then.” 

He finally stepped aside, letting the younger man begin the painstaking process of restoring the two broken bodies that lay behind him. Quiet, hurried words were cast, hands pressed against tender flesh, and the gentle glow of healing magic lit up the hillside. 

“Remember, you don’t have long before the sun rises. It would be a shame if you didn’t finish in time,” he leered. He didn’t wait for an answer, disappearing in a swirl of snow. 

Triumph tasted oh so sweet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welcome to the prologue, the shortest "chapter" i've ever written on here lmao. I went from one extreme to the other with these new fics huh. Not to worry! The next chapter the actual story will start, and will be normal chapter length for me. I mean i hope so lol.
> 
> I've been on a fairy tale retelling reading binge at work, so it's just been ideas bombarding me endlessly. Like I have 2 other half formed ones already planned to go along with the 2 i've already started. and of course this one. ohohohoho i've lost control BIG TIME. oh well. mayhaps if i gain some semblance of common sense, i'll keep myself from starting the other 2 for a little while longer.


	2. The White Bear

Luffy was an energetic character, to say the least. He was always running wild, regardless of how many times other people reprimanded him for it. The rest of the village took it in stride- at some point, everyone realized that there was no changing what he was. Luffy was a force of nature unto himself. 

If anything of note happened in the area, it was almost certain that he could be found at the center of it. That’s just the way things were, and most likely, the way it would always be. 

So it really shouldn’t have been any surprise that he was the one to take on a death-defying quest. 

It was still surprising, of course, because even if you learn to expect the unexpected, it can still sneak up on you. Something that Luffy’s brothers were about to learn quite against their will. 

The day began like any other. 

He had gone out hunting that morning with his best friend Zoro- although sadly they hadn’t been able to find much. It was well into winter now, and the last few years, the wildlife populations had taken a drastic downturn from their previously flourishing numbers. Most of the villagers blamed the winters that seemed to grow longer every passing year. And a few, rather elderly and superstitious folk, claimed it was the work of supernatural creatures. Trolls, mainly. 

Luffy used to love hearing stories about trolls while he grew up. His grandfather didn’t visit often, but when he did, there was always a story to be told about the most vicious of the magical folk. Some of them were the regular kind of stories that everyone told- how if you were naughty, the Troll Queen would steal you from your bed and make you marry her. His gramps liked to tell him that there was no greater punishment than marrying her. For if you did become her next poor husband, she’d suck out all your life force until you were nothing more than a husk of your former self. And once that happened, she would swallow you whole- all except your skin that is. She kept your pelt to decorate her splendid halls. 

It was all very wretched stuff, and it had worked fairly well at keeping him from misbehaving too much as a child, all things considered. His brothers used to threaten to pawn him off on the Troll Queen when he was younger. They still did, in fact, but now it was more of a friendly teasing than an actual threat. 

Gramps never threatened to leave him to the dreaded Troll Queen- or any other troll for that matter- although he did warn him strongly against gaining their attention. Usually, with his fists of love. He’d embellish upon this lesson with further stories of their malicious nature. He’d tell him about how cunning they were, and how they loved to manipulate people into doing exactly what they wanted. They could rip your soul out, or melt into the walls, and even control your body like a marionette. He wasn’t a particularly superstitious man, but he was adamant about the dangers of trolls. 

As Luffy got older, his fear of trolls disappeared into a mild amusement. When he was thirteen he told his grandfather he shouldn’t worry so much about things that don’t exist, and that earned him quite a walloping. 

It had also distressed his grandfather far more than he’d ever expected, and it wasn’t something he wanted to see again. So, he didn’t question the existence of trolls to him ever again- if only to keep that haunted expression from returning to the old man’s face. 

He wasn’t sure if he believed in trolls or not anymore, but he knew that his grandfather was afraid for a good reason. He just wasn’t sure what that reason was. 

The only one who was as good at telling stories as his gramps was Usopp, one of his other closest friends. He lived on the adjacent farm, tending to the fields that were all his parents left him. His father had disappeared, supposedly to sail to the end of the world, and his mother had died of illness when he’d been just a boy. His farm was small, but he yielded a decent crop. He had an excellent green thumb. 

The last of Luffy’s trio of best friends was Nami. She was a talented cat burglar, but when she was behaving herself she was known for the tangerines she and her sister grew. They’d inherited the orchard from their adoptive mother and kept it in top shape. They were the only tangerine grove around for miles- it wasn’t something that normally grew in their region. It was said, however, that their mother Bellemere had acquired the seeds with magical help, and that the trees themselves were enchanted to grow no matter where they were planted. 

The two of them would often trade their wares for meat that Luffy or his brothers caught, much to Sabo’s delight and Luffy’s horror. Luffy was of the opinion that meat was far superior to vegetables and fruit, but his brother insisted that he eat both. Ace didn’t care, so long as he had something to eat at the end of the day. Which was becoming disturbingly less often. 

The whole village suffered from the prolonged winters, but it hit their home a little harder. Their main source of food and income came from hunting, and unlike many of the other villagers, they couldn’t support themselves off the land. 

They tried valiantly that summer, but none of them were able to get much success from it. Even with Nami and Usopp’s help, the seeds just wouldn’t take. It was very odd, considering how close their homes were, but there was nothing to be done about it. They tried everything they could think of- had even spent some of their hard earned money to buy nourishing charms that were meant to help their crops along. Yet nothing worked. For all intents and purposes, their sparse fields were cursed to be barren. 

His friends still provided what they could, but what with keeping themselves fed and keeping up with demand, they had little excess to share. 

Still, it was bearable. He knew they would get through it, and things would work out for the better eventually. 

Then one day, Sabo got sick. 

It started out as a little cold, nothing to be concerned about. Then it grew worse, until every breath rattled in his lungs, and he was so feverish he could barely tell where he was. 

They had no money for a doctor, and even if they did, there was no telling if he’d get better or not. Things were looking bleak. 

He and Ace took turns between going out to hunt and watching over their brother. This made their hauls even smaller, but leaving Sabo on his own was not an option. Neither one would admit it, but they were worried that if someone wasn’t there to take care of him, he might pass on. And if he did, they definitely didn’t want him to be alone when it happened. 

Leaving a brother to die alone was not allowed. 

A couple years ago, Luffy and Ace had nearly died. They’d been out hunting as usual, when they were attacked. Not by a wild animal- nor even by another human, as far as they could tell. Actually, they had no idea what assaulted them. Their memories of the encounter were vague- all Ace could remember was a looming shadow and an excruciating pain exploding from his chest. 

Luffy didn’t remember any of it. 

It was probably for the best, considering how terrible it must have been, but there was something that niggled in the back of his mind about how he ought to remember _ something _. Something important. He knew he was missing something big- maybe who their assailant was? But that never felt quite right. He figured it might have something to do with whoever saved them. 

And someone did_ for sure _ save them. Nobody survived wounds like theirs without magical intervention. It was clear from the scarring that they’d gotten massive holes straight through their chests- like something had punched straight through them. 

Their mysterious rescuer was even harder to determine than their attacker. As stated before, Luffy recalled nothing of the encounter, and Ace only remembered what happened directly before. What happened afterwards was a complete mystery. 

He never told his brothers, but sometimes he dreamt of it. Not the attack, but of the healing. It wasn’t so much images- no, it was always pitch black. But sometimes he heard a voice, low and steady, too quiet for him to hear properly. And other times he swore he felt the brush of fur against his skin, only to wake beneath his scratchy wool blanket instead. 

He would have told them about the dreams, but what use would that be? They were just dreams after all, not reality. It was just his imagination trying to fill in the gaps in his memory. 

Sabo had never stopped fretting about the whole ordeal, and had often berated them for almost dying when he wasn’t with them. They promised him that it wouldn’t happen again, despite the fact that it had very little to do with whether they wanted to die or not. 

Now it seemed it was Sabo’s turn to make them worry. 

After selling what little he caught, he spent the money on more dried echinacea and a talisman for Sabo. He would have liked to eat the meat himself, but his brother was far more important than a rumbling stomach. 

Zoro shoved a small portion of his catch into his hands and ran off before he could refuse it. He thanked his lucky stars that he had such generous friends. And he wished, somewhat forlornly, that his family didn’t have to be in this situation in the first place. 

He wondered how long winter would last this year and if Sabo would live to see the end of it. He always did like spring. 

By the time he returned home, a strong storm had blown in. He had to fumble with the door as he tried to see past all the snow that flew into his eyes. The wind whipped viciously at him as well, threatening to take his beloved straw hat off his head as it howled through the valley. His hands were nearly blue from the cold since he forgot his mittens that morning. 

He felt like an icicle once he managed to step inside and slam the door shut behind him. 

“There you are, knucklehead. I was starting to wonder if you’d ever show up,” Ace said, rising from his seat beside their brother’s cot. He stoked the fire and set the kettle over it, so they could start on Sabo’s tea. Luffy tossed him the meat Zoro gave him and carefully took the healing talisman he bought to curl Sabo’s limp hands around it. 

“What’s that?” Ace asked, peering at it suspiciously. 

“I got it from one of the old ladies at the marketplace. She said it will help give Sabo back his strength, so he can fight off whatever it is that’s making him so sick.” 

“Luffy, you know those old bags are full of it. She probably thinks he got cursed by a troll or something for- oh, I don’t know- stepping on a twig on the third Tuesday of the month,” Ace sighed. He’d never been particularly taken by the idea of supernatural creatures existing around them. He thought it was all a bunch of silly folk tales. 

Luffy wasn’t so sure though. How else could they explain what happened to them two years ago? There was nothing natural about the attack or how they survived. Maybe the talisman would do nothing, but he had to try. 

He hummed noncommittally, kneeling so that he could rest his head on his arms as he watched Sabo’s chest rise and fall with each labored breath. “He doing any better today?” 

Ace sighed. “He was awake for a couple hours today. Woke up a couple other times to ask when you were getting back. He’ll probably wake up any minute now that you’re here. I swear his ability to sense your presence is even better than mine,” he said, knocking his fist lightly on the side of his head. 

As if on cue, Sabo blinked awake, hands clenching around the small carved stone in his grasp. He smiled weakly at Luffy before peering down at the talisman in confusion. “What’s this?” he asked, setting the other two brothers off again. 

“That’s sweet of you, Lu. Ace is right though- you probably shouldn’t have bought anything from her. She’s probably gossiping with the rest of the old ladies about how I got tricked by the fae or something. She’s probably using your coin to make a bet on it,” he joked. 

He huffed petulantly. “Well, I still think we should be trying anything we can! Just because you don’t believe in it, that doesn’t mean magic isn’t real!” he said, stomping his foot. 

He may not have decided about whether or not supernatural creatures existed, but magic? That was _ definitely _real. 

“Oh here we go again,” Ace grumbled under his breath, slapping a tired hand over his face. He and Sabo shared a commiserating look. “We get it, Lu. Magic is real because Traffy said so,” he said with a long suffering sigh. 

“That’s right!” he exclaimed, ignoring the put upon looks on their faces and nodding fervently. “And he’s all bookish and stuff, so he would know.” 

Traffy was Luffy’s mysterious fourth best friend that no one besides him had ever seen. The rambunctious teenager had gone missing for a month when he was sixteen, and he claimed that he spent it in an enchanted castle with a man named Traffy. Not that Traffy was actually his name- it was something longer, but Luffy had never bothered to learn it. Too difficult for him. 

He said he was older than them- not too much older though- and was lean and tall. 

Well, those weren’t exactly Luffy’s words- what he actually said was that Traffy could have stepped on them and squished them if he weren’t such a beanpole. They had to read between the lines to try and figure out what the guy was actually like. They did know he was a man though- that much was clear. They also knew that Luffy thought he had a nice voice, but who knows what that meant. For all they knew, he could sound like a songbird or a dying cat. Their little brother’s opinion wasn’t always….conventional. 

He also said that he had lots of cool tattoos and funny spots on his skin. They thought he was talking about freckles or acne or something, but after a while they realized he meant that his skin actually had white patches across it. Those were two very distinctive traits, and no one in town had ever seen or heard of someone like that wandering around. 

Then of course, he started gushing about how Traffy knew magic, but would only show him a little, and he lived in a castle where the lamps would light and douse themselves. 

After that they decided that he must have eaten something that gave him a bad trip, and concluded that the whole experience was all a figment of his imagination. They tried to tease him about how he was a late bloomer for getting an imaginary friend at that age, but he blew up at them for it. 

So it was that they begrudgingly allowed him to talk about his friend without outright telling him to his face that Traffy wasn’t real. 

Their patience grew thinner with each passing mention of him though. Despite his complaints about the man they’d never seen, it was clear he adored him. If they weren’t so adamant about denying his existence to themselves, they would have thought Luffy had finally gotten himself his first crush. 

But he wasn’t real, so that would have been terribly sad for them to think of their precious little brother falling for a fantasy. 

Still, he was nineteen now, and he couldn’t keep living in his daydreams like this. He was going to have to give up on this make-believe man sooner or later. It was only indulgence for his bright personality that kept the other villagers from questioning his mental health. 

“Oh look, the kettle’s done,” Ace said as if he hadn’t heard a word of what Luffy said. 

He moved to take it from where it hung above the fire, but before he could there was a loud thudding noise at the door. They all stared at it in shock, not quite sure what they were hearing. It sounded almost like knocking, but as if a giant had smacked the door instead of a normal human. 

Luffy was the first to react, springing up and rushing to the door. Ace reached out a hand to try and stop him, but he missed by a hairsbreadth. 

He tossed open the door, expecting to see some poor soul trying to find shelter from the storm. 

He wasn’t entirely wrong in his assumption. 

Unlike he thought, it was not a human being waiting at their door to be let in. No, it was a giant mass of off-white fur, with a black nose, and unusually colored eyes. The large white bear blinked at him for a moment before gently nudging him aside to enter their little cottage. 

Ace grabbed his hunting knife from where it hung on the wall, and Sabo managed to haul himself upright and hold up the talisman he’d gotten from Luffy as if were about to throw it. 

Luffy on the other hand, was practically bouncing with joy. 

“A bear!” he cried, leaping forward to bury his face in the fur on its side. 

“Luffy!” they yelled, wishing desperately that their brother had the slightest ounce of common sense. Sabo was lamenting his bedridden state, and Ace was counting the ways he was going to clobber him if he didn’t get eaten by the bear first. 

He charged forward, intent on distracting the beast so his little brother could escape, but stopped in his tracks a moment later, unable to believe what was happening. 

“Hello,” a deep rumbling voice said with the bear’s mouth. 

Both older brothers dropped what was in their hands. Delighted laughter erupted from the youngest occupant in the room. “You can talk!” he exclaimed, jumping around to address the bear to its face. 

It looked down at him with its odd eyes- Gramps had always said that white bears had black eyes like coal, but this one had amber eyes. They flickered in the light from the fire as if they held flames of their own. 

“A little,” it replied slowly. 

Ace collapsed next to Sabo on the bed, shut his eyes tightly, and counted to ten, but when he opened them it was the same scene in front of him. They shared a bewildered look before turning back to the other two. 

Luffy wasted no time in familiarizing himself with their unexpected visitor, taking turns between asking questions and hopping around to run his fingers through its fur. To the bear’s credit, it didn’t seem particularly perturbed by any of this. After coming to the conclusion that the older two weren’t going to try and murder it, it indulged Luffy’s endless energy. 

When he hung himself around its neck it merely huffed and blew hot air in his face to make him let go. 

“Um, okay, so you can talk. What exactly-” Sabo began but was cut off by a long bout of coughing. Luffy stopped his pestering to join Ace so they could huddle around him reassuringly. He accepted the mug of tea they pushed in his hands and swallowed it hastily, unheeding of how hot it was as it burned past his throat. 

Luffy patted his back while Ace prepared him another cup, shoving the talisman back into his hand for good measure. 

“You are sick,” the white bear spoke, regaining their attention. 

“Yes,” Sabo admitted reluctantly. It was pretty obvious, but he still didn’t want to be telling strange bears that could easily smush him with one of its great paws. 

“Hey, wait a second!” Luffy said, brightening up again. Ace shot him a glare to try and get him to please-shut-the-hell-up, but he didn’t notice. “You’re magic right? That’s why you can talk! You can fix Sabo then!” 

That was the last straw for Ace. He got back to his feet so he could haul his idiotic little brother away from their visitor, ignoring his protests and scowling all the while. What he would give for Luffy to have a single lick of self control. “Quit talking nonsense! It’s a bear!” 

“Yeah, a _ magic _ bear!” 

Sabo held back a sigh, reaching up to rub his temples. He could feel a headache coming on. “Lu, just because they can talk, that doesn’t mean they can fix-” 

“You didn’t even let him answer!” 

“Don’t interrupt, knucklehead. We’re trying to knock some common sense into you. I swear, I don’t miss the old man, but at least he can keep you from running after fairy tales.” 

Their bickering continued for a while longer. They were so caught up in their argument they almost forgot about the reason they began arguing in the first place. 

Or they did, until he spoke again. 

“I can heal your brother,” the white bear interrupted them. “But it comes at a cost.” 

They all froze, staring at him as the words sunk in. Once again, Luffy was the one to break the tension in the room, zipping over to stand in front of the bear once more. “Okay! What’s the cost then? We don’t have a lot of money, but if there’s anything else we can do to pay you like catching you food or working for you or something-” 

“Luffy, no!” 

The white bear blinked down at him, eyes glancing between him and his brothers. “I have no need of workers,” it said carefully. Speaking seemed to take a considerable amount of effort for it. “The deal is this: I will heal your brother, and they will be given riches enough that will last for years. In return, you must live with me for the next year at my home, far from here.” 

“Deal!” Luffy shouted before his brothers could stop him, reaching forward and snagging one of the bear’s massive paws to shake it vigorously. It would have been comical if they weren’t so horrified. 

Ace dragged him away again, smacking him upside the head for good measure. He loved his little brother, but sometimes it took all his strength not to strangle him. 

Sabo meanwhile, had gone completely catatonic. He was pretty sure if he moved a muscle, his soul wouldn’t be able to find his body again, since it had left immediately after Luffy agreed to the magic bear’s deal. 

The white bear took one more look around the room before taking its leave. “I will return in the morning then.” 

The door opened without anyone touching it, letting in a torrent of wind and snow, and the bear walked off, letting the door fall shut behind it. 

And just like that, it was gone. 

“See? I told you magic was real. Everything is going to work out great!” 

They spent the whole night arguing. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ace and Sabo: luffy no  
Luffy, absolutely paying them no mind: LUFFY YES


	3. Torao

“I cannot believe we’re doing this.” 

“We heard you the first thousand times, Ace. What’s done is done,” Sabo sighed, scrubbing a tired hand down his face. He didn’t like this any more than his brother, but they didn’t have much choice. Once Luffy decided he was going to do something- like, _ really _ decided- there was no changing his mind. Short of tying him up and sitting on him, there was nothing they could do to stop him. 

In fact, the only thing that stopped them from trying was the knowledge that a huge white bear was planning to show up on their doorstep again. Ace was ready to fight that bear to the death if it meant saving Luffy, but his brothers nixed the idea, on the basis that it was stupid. 

Admittedly, if he was in better health, Sabo probably would have joined him. He didn’t want to lose his little brother to some weird bear that showed up out of nowhere and said it would heal him- as if! If Sabo got better after the creature disappeared with his brother, it would be coincidence and nothing more. Although if he did get better, he and Ace were tracking them down and taking Luffy back. They were not letting Luffy run around with the bear for a _ year _ . The very thought was ludicrous. It would probably try to eat him within the _ week _. 

As it was, Sabo was far too weak to fend off a creature of such proportions. He couldn’t barely stay awake the whole night, and much of that was spent with a dizzying headache and raging fever. Fighting off a bear in his condition was laughable. 

But did they really have to let this happen? 

Ace shot him a look that was half outraged, half concerned. “Well, I’ll say it a thousand more times if it keeps Luffy here,” he said stubbornly, crossing his arms over his chest and getting up from his spot by Sabo’s cot to resume his pacing. He’d spent most of the night walking back and forth across their little cottage, and Sabo was starting to worry he’d wear a hole through the floorboards. 

Luffy on the other hand, had spent most of the night bouncing around in unrestrained glee, unrepentant in the face of their disapproval. He seemed to think that this was the answer to all their prayers, and that they’d never have to worry about anything again. 

Ace and Sabo had tried in vain to explain that there was no way what the bear promised was true- how the hell could it make Sabo better or make them rich? To which he replied the all time least welcome answer: magic. 

Ace very nearly lost it then, but Sabo gathered all the strength he could to hold him back. Mostly this meant flopping weakly against him and trying not to pass out, but it made Ace so worried that he almost forgot what he was mad about. Almost. 

Sure, there was a talking bear in their home hours before, and yes, the door had somehow closed itself behind it without anyone touching it, but so what? The wind probably blew it shut. From the wrong direction. Somehow. He had no explanation for why the bear could talk yet, but he’d figure it out eventually. There was probably some crook outside using the bear like a ventriloquist’s puppet or something. Magic was not real, and he refused to believe that it could help them in any way. 

He said as much to Luffy, which resulted in a screaming match between the two of them- the likes of which had never been seen before in their home. 

Small arguments between the brothers were common place, but they never fought about anything important. It was usually about things like buying phony magic talismans or putting vegetables on Luffy’s plate. Petty stuff. This argument was so big, it made their already small cottage feel suffocating. It also did nothing for Sabo’s health. In the end, they had only stopped because Sabo broke out into a coughing fit, and they became so distracted in caring for him that they didn’t have time to fight for the next twenty minutes. After that, they were reduced to glaring at each other for the next hour while Sabo attempted to make peace between them. If the bear really did take Luffy away, they couldn’t end things like this. 

It took a while, but eventually the other two realized he was right, and they were back to bickering as usual. Luffy did his best to cheer them up and reassure them that everything would be fine, and Ace did his best to hold back every unkind thought he’d ever had about magic. 

It did test his patience whenever Luffy started waxing poetic about Traffy though. Although for Luffy, “waxing poetic” meant things like exclaiming how funny he thought it was that Traffy hated bread or how often Traffy told him he was dumber than a rock. 

Neither Ace nor Sabo knew how to feel about Luffy’s ramblings about Traffy making a resurgence, but they weathered it with as much grace as they could muster. If this Traffy guy was real after all, he had a lot to answer for. He could have shown up any time to introduce himself and let them know that their little brother was not just making up imaginary friends in his teenage years, and saved them so much stress. 

Morning came all too soon, leading up to their current predicament. Ace and Sabo were going to have to accept that Luffy was really leaving. Because they didn’t have any time left to try and talk him out of it. 

Not that it had been very effective anyway. 

Luffy was over the moon, and he glancing at the door, waiting for it to burst open and reveal their visitor from last night. Ace continued grumbling under his breath, and Sabo struggled to keep his eyes open. 

It was just after the sun finished rising over the horizon that the knock came on their door, heralding the arrival of the white bear. 

Luffy sprinted to the door and flung it open to display the same hulking mass of white fur and amber eyes his brothers had been dreading all night. Not sharing any of their concerns, the younger man immediately launched himself at the beast and buried his face in its furry neck. 

“You came!” he yelled gleefully, clinging to it like a tattered, red-coated parasite. 

It looked down at him with its unnervingly intelligent eyes and tilted its head ever so slightly to the side. “It is time to go. Are you ready?” it asked in its somewhat halting speech. 

He nodded vigorously, detaching himself so he could run over to his brothers and hug them tightly. He had foregone packing- insisting that they would need whatever was around more than he would- so all he needed to grab were his mittens and a scarf. They attempted one last time to get him to at least take a snack for the road, but he merely laughed them off and told them not to worry about him. 

“Tell Zoro and Nami and Usopp that I’ll miss them!” he said, giving them a big grin and shoving the small loaf of bread that Ace was trying to give him back into his hands. 

In truth, he did want to have something to snack on for his journey, but he couldn’t bear to take anything from his brother’s meager supplies. He trusted the white bear to keep its word and send them enough riches that they’d never have to go hungry again, but he didn’t know how long that would take. Hopefully not long, but in the meantime, it couldn’t hurt to give them all the help they could get. And since he wasn’t going to be around to provide for them anymore, it was only fair that not take anything else. A little tummy grumbling aside, he would be fine. More than anything, he wanted his brothers to be okay. 

Hence, his deal with the white bear. 

Although, he had to admit, it was pretty cool that he was going on a journey with a giant magical talking bear. Usopp was going to have to make the best story out of this when he got back. 

Ace and Sabo let him go with resignation written all over their faces, and he told them for what felt like the millionth time that everything was going to be alright. Sabo nodded quietly and gave him a watery smile, while Ace simply humphed and said something under his breath that Luffy couldn’t catch. But he told him in a much louder voice that he already knew that, and Luffy should just focus on not doing anything stupid while he was gone. 

He laughed, promising not to, before finally walking through the door to start his adventure. 

Even on all fours, the bear was still a head taller than he was, but he figured that just made it better for traveling anyway. After all, if it was a small bear, then he wouldn’t have nearly as much fun hanging off of it. 

“So, how are we traveling? Where are we going? Are we walking the whole way? Oh- can we stop by my friends’ houses so I can say goodbye? Then Ace wouldn’t have to for me!” he rambled, reaching up to adjust his straw hat so it sat more securely on his head after a gust of wind threatened to snatch it away. 

The bear huffed. “Climb on,” it said, gesturing briefly to its back with its head. 

Luffy lit up and, needing no further prompting, immediately backed up so he could get a running start to fling himself atop its back. Mostly he managed to faceplant into its side, but he scrambled up to mount it with a little more effort. He sat astride its shoulders, looking far too pleased with himself by the time he succeeded. 

Ace had half a mind to walk over there and smack that look off his face, but he resisted the urge. After all, Sabo worked so hard to get them to make up- it would be a shame if he ruined it now by giving Luffy a black eye. And also because he was busy being worried for the little brat, but you know. Brothers. 

“Let’s go! Let’s go!” Luffy chanted, slapping the bear excitedly on its scruff. It sighed in a way that Sabo and Ace found disturbingly familiar. 

It was the same sigh everyone who had lots of experience with Luffy’s behavior made. Which the bear shouldn’t be making, since it had only met him yesterday. Right? 

Before they could inquire about it however, the two of them were off, not to be seen for the next year. 

* * *

Traveling on the bear’s back was exhilarating. They had started off at a simple lope, but before long the bear had said, “Hold tight,” and after that the world flew by in a colorful blur. It was using magic somehow to make them travel faster, where a single leap could take them miles farther. 

The dreary grays and dull browns of his home were quickly replaced by a riot of red and gold and fiery orange that could only come from autumnal foliage. He reached out and snagged a stray leaf as they blew past, admiring its vibrant hue and marveling at the mere sight of something from a season that had already passed his village. He tucked it into his coat pocket so he wouldn’t lose it, and gave it a reassuring pat every once in a while to make sure it was still there. 

Fall was soon replaced by bright green and the natural perfume of flowers blooming in summer heat. It was very odd, experiencing the seasons in reverse, even if it wasn’t for more than a few hours at a time. 

They bounded through fields of wildflowers, and Luffy became slightly miffed that he was too high up to pluck them. Although, just when he thought he wouldn’t come across anything he could reach, sunflowers sprouted up along their path. He held on firmly to the bear’s fur with one hand and used the other to wrap around one of the stalks, ripping the flower out of the dirt with far more force than was necessary at their speed. It came out of the ground with a great spray of dirt and grass, and the bear glanced back to see what had made him tug harder on its scruff. It merely rolled its eyes when it saw the triumphant smile on Luffy’s face and the flower trailing roots and mud behind them. 

Spring came next, and it was significantly wetter than Luffy was expecting. They arrived in time to splash through the mud and slush of a recent rainstorm, although only sprinkles remained in the air to pepper his face. Budding plants and new grass were pushing through the muck, but nothing that he was interested in holding onto. 

Still, a part of him wished his brothers and his friends were there to see it all with him. Sabo would have liked to see little bits of green popping out of the ground to herald the arrival of a new season of growing, and Nami would love to be in the warmth of summer when her tangerines did best. Usopp would have loved all of it as much as Luffy did. As for Ace and Zoro, they would probably be the least impressed, but even they would like the warmer weather to take naps in. 

There was nothing for it though- he would just have to wait until next year to enjoy those things with them. In the meantime, he was going to enjoy whatever he could. Despite the hint of loneliness that had begun to creep up on him, he couldn’t deny how wonderfully free he felt with the wind whipping around them and carrying his laughter in their wake. 

It was only when a vast sea stretched out in front of them that the bear halted in its tracks. 

Luffy took the pause to slide off the bear and stretch his legs, throwing his winter layers off so he could frolic in the sand. He’d never seen the sea before- the closest he’d come was a lake three villages over, and the river that ran through the whole valley. But the sea- it looked endless, and the waves sparkled in the sun like a siren calling to him. Gulls filled the air with their calls, and the scent of salt filled his nostrils. Out of all the things he’d seen today, this place was his favorite. 

There was just something about standing there, one small speck on the shore with a sea of what felt like endless possibilities that lay before him. He loved his home, he really did, but there had always been a part of him that longed for something more. He longed for adventure, to see the world, to go farther than the borders of his little village and experience anything and everything he could. 

He plopped down with his pilfered goodies and spread out his limbs, enjoying the feel of the sand sliding between his fingers and toes. He kind of wanted to bury his whole body under the gritty terrain, but he had other things to take care of. He restrained himself to burrowing his feet down as far as he could instead. 

Grabbing hold of his sunflower, he pulled out his hunting knife. It was one of the only things he’d kept from home, and really that was because he’d forgotten it was in the pocket of his trousers. He was used to carrying it around with him every day, so he supposed it wasn’t that surprising he’d forgotten it was there. 

There was a brief moment of contemplation where he debated whether or not to cut it right above the roots that still clung stubbornly to it, or to cut the whole stalk off all together. In the end, he went with the latter. 

He bent the stem as close to the head of the flower as he could before he began to saw at it with his blade. It would be a lot easier if he had a hard surface to back it against, but there was nothing around for him to use. At least his knife was sharp- habit and necessity kept him from letting it grow dull. 

The slight resistance of the stalk gave way soon enough under his ministrations, and he was left with one large sunflower bloom that was nearly bigger than his own head, as well as a dilapidated stem almost as tall as himself. 

He should have laid it out flat alongside him before cutting it so he could compare their lengths better. Maybe if he shoved the two pieces together he could still test it out. 

A cold nose nudging his arm broke him out of his trance. 

“We must go.” 

It might have been his imagination, but the bear looked almost apologetic about telling him that. Maybe it felt bad for taking him from his home, or maybe it could tell that he wanted to stay there on the beach. Who knows. He should probably stop referring to it as an “it” though. That seemed rude. The bear sounded male, so he decided to call the bear a “he” instead. That felt right. 

He really didn’t think the bear should feel bad about spiriting him away from his village though. After all, Luffy was the one who agreed to it in the first place. It’s not like the bear was forcing him to go. 

Hmm. He should also figure out what to call the bear too. Calling him “the bear” in his head all the time was getting tiring. 

“Hey, what’s your name?” he asked, climbing back onto the bear’s back while it crouched in front of him. He figured he had to have a name. Things that talked always had names. 

The bear seemed to struggle for a moment, opening and closing its mouth a few times before finally grinding something out. Unfortunately, it wasn’t very clear what he was trying to say. All Luffy heard was, “Tr-f-gr,” and a growl. 

He tried to piece it out himself. “Trrr…grrrr…tiger?” A frustrated rumble told him that no, the bear did not want to be called tiger. A real shame if you asked him. 

“T-rrr-aw,” the bear tried again. 

Luffy scratched his head. “Well, it starts with a ‘T’. Hmm. Trrr…Tor…Torao!” he exclaimed, patting himself on the back for a job well done. The bear sighed but didn’t snarl at him, so he figured that meant he was close enough. Weird name though. He should really ask his parents why they named him that. 

“Okay, Torao! Let’s go!” he said, sinking his hands back into his new friend’s thick coat. And they were friends- or at least, Luffy was going to make sure they were. They did have to live with each other for the next year. 

Torao made a noise of assent and crept to the water’s edge. He bent his head towards the tide and took a deep breath, letting it out in a long, slow exhale. Frost spread out from their spot on the shore, expanding rapidly across the water until there was a jagged path of ice slicing through the waves. Snowflakes twirled through the air surrounding it, and Luffy had the strangest sense of deja vu. For some reason, it made him think of Traffy, although he didn’t know why. He’d stumbled across the older man’s home during a snow storm, but the sight of them afterwards had never reminded him so strongly of him before. Maybe being parted from his brothers again was just bringing the experience back to the surface. 

Torao glanced back to confirm that Luffy was situated securely, then he wasted no time in sprinting across the ice. The world blurred around them in a haze of blue and white, and he had no doubts that magic was bending the world to its will, in a way far different than it had in their earlier travels. 

It felt as though they weren’t even traversing across the world that he knew- it was as if they were running in a place between the earth and somewhere unknown. Someplace that felt entirely “other”. 

Time was lost to him in that strange otherworld, and by the end of it he couldn’t tell if they’d been there for seconds or hours. However long it had been, where they stopped it was nearly sunset. 

Before them stood a great cliff, rising out of the snow like a giant frozen wave of granite that towered above them. If he squinted through the falling snow, he could make out the outline of doors carved into the cliff face. Very familiar doors, that he had only seen once before, but they were striking enough with their etchings of mythological creatures on the surface that he would never forget them. 

He didn’t even realize he’d moved until he was pressed up against the stone, running his hands over the carved face of a particularly ugly troll. His mouth was open in wonder as his thoughts spun wildly out of control, trying to figure out how he’d ended up here again. Then a grin broke across his face, and he began pounding on the doors in earnest, shouting at the top of his lungs. 

“Traffy! Traffy, open up! It’s me, Luffy! I’m back!” he cried, fists beating excitedly against the rock. His calls grew more impatient when his friend didn’t show up, and he would have started kicking the doors in frustration if Torao didn’t nudge him aside. 

The bear blew on the doors, and they opened silently into the darkened entryway. Light flared into existence along the walls, the lamps lighting themselves just as he remembered. Everything was just as he remembered, actually. The pale green marbled walls and floors, the soft strains of music through the halls, interspersed with quiet clinks and clanks as though someone was working on something far away. Even the faint smell of lemon wafting through the place was just as he recalled. 

Not bothering to wait for Torao, he went tearing down the hallway, lamps barely keeping up with him as he raced through the corridors trying to find his friend. 

But no matter how loud he yelled or how many rooms he burst into, Traffy didn’t appear. 

Disappointment hit him sharply in the chest, and he slumped into a plump armchair by a roaring fireplace. He had roamed up and down the halls for over an hour, but he couldn’t find his friend. The sun had long since set, and the flames from the fireplace were the only light left to him. Even Torao had disappeared early on, to who knows where while Luffy searched frantically for Traffy. The only sign of his old friend’s presence had been a few medical texts splayed out over one of the tables in the library, with sheets of paper covered in his scrawling handwriting. 

Either Traffy was gone, or he simply didn’t want to see Luffy. The last thought made his chest hurt, and he curled himself tighter in the armchair, willing the ugly thoughts away. 

He hadn’t been sitting there for long before a knock sounded behind him. He turned around in his seat to peer at the doorway, surprised to see a stranger standing there. A stranger with a platter of food that smelled delicious. 

Despite how upset he was, he became keenly aware of the fact that he hadn’t eaten all day, and he was ravenous. 

The blond man with curly eyebrows smirked, as if he knew exactly what Luffy was thinking and stepped into the room. 

“Glad to see you’ve finally settled down. He said you’d be hungry whenever you stopped stomping around, so I’ve brought you some dinner. As long as you’re up for it, of course,” he said archly, holding the platter out towards him so he could get a better look at it. 

The platter was huge, and it was covered in things Luffy hadn’t had the pleasure of eating in months. It held a wide array of dishes, ranging from curry bread to takoyaki to ripe red fruit that threatened to spill off the edges. Succulent meat served in a variety of sauces produced such a heavenly smell that he couldn’t stop his stomach from rumbling. Not that he would try to anyway. 

The man laughed as he set the platter down on the table beside him, and Luffy pounced on it immediately with a fervor that would have his brothers scolding him for his lack of manners. Well, one brother anyway. Ace was just as bad as him when it came to food. 

His worries about Traffy melted away as he wolfed down the meal. Traffy would probably be back tomorrow. Or sometime later that week. He couldn’t be gone for long. Luffy was worrying about nothing. For now, he might as well enjoy himself while he waited. It was impossible for him not to if he was going to be eating food like this the whole year. He’d never eaten so well in his life. 

Well, he supposed he might have back when he was here the first time, but this food was even better than he remembered. Maybe Traffy got a new cook. He’d have to ask him when he saw him. 

Suddenly remembering that he wasn’t alone, he looked over at the man who’d brought him his meal. He was observing Luffy as one might look upon a snake eating a live mouse in a cage- vaguely horrified yet fascinated all the same. 

“Whuff your name?” Luffy asked, between heaping bites of udon. Little flecks of food sprayed from his mouth, and the man looked more than a little disgruntled, but with a little amusement as well, he replied, “Sanji.” 

Luffy wiped his mouth on his sleeve, and thought back on what he’d first said when he walked in. “Hey, who told you I would be hungry?” he asked. It couldn’t be Traffy, could it? No, he would have stopped to say hello. Or at least told him to stop making such a ruckus. 

Sanji looked off to the side and scratched his nose. “I believe you call him Torao.” 

In all his excitement he’d practically forgotten his original reason for being there. “Oh yeah! Where did he go? Isn’t he hungry too?” Luffy asked, looking at the scant remains of his meal and wondering if he should have left some for the bear. 

“He’s…taking care of business,” he said carefully. “Don’t worry about him though- he had dinner while you were running around the halls. You can talk to him more tomorrow if you wish. In the meantime, why don’t you settle in for the night? You might as well stay in this chamber- there’s another room through that arch over there where you can sleep,” he said, pointing to Luffy’s right. 

“There’s also a washroom attached to it as well,” he said, giving a pointed look at Luffy’s sticky hands. And with that, he left Luffy to his own devices. 

He didn’t particularly care about the mess, but he did as Sanji directed anyway, heading to the washroom and cleaning himself thoroughly enough that Sabo would have approved of it. The bathroom was massive, and beside the pristine porcelain sinks, the floor dipped into a bathtub that was big enough Luffy could submerge his whole body in and still have enough room to paddle around. Nami probably would have loved it, as she had a great fondness for baths, but Luffy was not of the same opinion. He usually just dunked himself in the river and scrubbed off the top layer of dirt that accumulated on his skin. 

After he finished cleaning up, he returned to the bedroom, which was equally as impressive as the rest of the manor. A large bed sat in the middle of the room, with mounds of pillows and blankets piled high atop it. His outer layers- which he’d tossed willy nilly around the halls as he ran through them working up a sweat- were piled neatly on top of the dresser. His sunflower and leaf were there as well. Someone must have come in and placed them there while he was in the bathroom. 

There was also a nightshirt folded on the end of the mattress, and he assumed it was for him as well. Shrugging, he peeled off his dirty clothes and cast them aside for it. It was smooth and soft, of a far nicer material than anything he owned back home. It was almost weird wearing something that wasn’t coarse or patched up, or only softened with age. 

He hadn’t realized just how tired he was until he slipped under the covers, head falling back on the pillows and passing out almost immediately. And when Luffy slept, he slept like the dead. Almost nothing could wake him from his slumber. 

Not even when the bed dipped with the weight of another body beside him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ah, to be someone who doesn't write a dozen au's all at once and has their shit together. what a concept.  
law can't tell luffy his name partly cuz talking as a bear is hard, and partly because his curse won't let him. can't have things be too easy, can we?


	4. Exploration and Discovery

Luffy’s life in the enchanted castle was… uneventful. The first few weeks were more or less okay. He spent most of it wandering around, trying to find things to do. There were dozens of rooms, all richly furnished and full of activities to keep his hands busy, but… Well, none of them were filled with things that he had any aptitude for. 

One room was full of musical instruments- all sorts of things that Luffy had no idea how to play. The closest approximation to playing that he could do was blowing air in the harmonica, and he didn’t know how to get certain notes or  rhythm or whatever it was that  Usopp did back home. If his friend were here, he could probably entertain Luffy for hours while he used the harmonica and the two of them pranced around.  Usopp could probably try to teach himself how to use any of the instruments in there, but Luffy just didn’t have the right mindset for it. 

He tried one day when he was very, very bored, and ended up breaking a stringed instrument or two. After that he figured it was probably best to find something else to try. 

Another room looked like some sort of workshop. In it Luffy found all sorts of gadgets and gizmos that looked like someone worked very hard on. He wasn’t exactly technically minded however, so it didn’t give him much to do. He may or not have caused a minor explosion that Sanji had to come put out when he heard the commotion. Sanji locked it up and told him he wasn’t allowed in there anymore. 

There was a room full of cool antique weapons, but Sanji banned him from there too after he brought him lunch only to find Luffy bleeding all over the carpet. The blond cook sure had a mean kick. 

Honestly, the cut hadn’t even been that bad. He needed to get a few stitches from one of the doctors training there- some guy named  Shachi . He did  perfectly fine at it from what Luffy could see, but the other guy in the room was freaking out about how  Shachi better do it right or the boss was going to kill them. Which seemed a little over the top-  Torao had been nothing but nice since Luffy met him. 

He assumed Torao was the boss anyway. He hadn’t seen the bear much since he arrived. Every once in a while he stumbled across him, but other than that their interactions were surprisingly limited. If he’d known that Torao was barely going to be in the picture while he stayed there, he would have told his brothers to keep them from worrying about him being eaten. 

Not that he had ever been afraid of that, but it had come up a few times with Ace the night before he left. What a worrywart.

It was a little disappointing that he didn’t get to know the bear better. Or anyone really. Aside from his little stint in the infirmary and Sanji bringing him his meals, he didn’t see anyone. It got a little lonely at times, but he would just have to make do and find other ways to entertain himself. Mainly by exploring the rest of the castle. 

There were so many rooms, and all the hallways looked more or less the same to him, so he was constantly getting lost. The music room was the easiest to get to because it was so close to his bedroom, but the rest? It was an absolute maze to him. 

There was a grand library stacked floor to ceiling with books of all kinds, but again, Luffy had never really bothered with learning to read. He could read well enough for a village kid, but it wasn’t that important to him. Mostly it was something he learned to make sure people weren’t cheating him at the market, and in a village as small as his where everyone knew everyone, cheating each other like that was practically unheard of. The merchants who did were usually from out of town, where they didn’t have to live with the consequences of their actions. 

Hunters like Luffy and his brothers took up the basics for trade, but that was it. Sabo could read a lot better than Ace or Luffy, and he liked to read them stories from a battered old book of fairy tales that Garp gave him. Luffy loved to listen to people read to him, but he didn’t care to do it himself. Still, he vowed to bring Sabo back here one day to enjoy all the books on display and read as much as he desired. 

It was obvious that Traffy spent a lot of time in the library when he was home. His memories of the older man had almost always involved him surrounded by books as he worked. The more time that passed, the more Luffy drifted to the room to see if the other was there. 

He wasn’t. 

Not when Luffy was around anyway. Sometimes he would walk in there and there would be different books splayed out, journals full of Traffy’s scrawling handwriting placed nearby as if he’d been there researching earlier. 

It made something dark and ugly sink to the pit of his stomach when he realized that Traffy really was avoiding him. He must have had his reasons, but regardless of the purpose behind it, Luffy still found it depressing. After all, they were friends, weren’t they? Didn’t Traffy miss spending time with him too?

Sometimes Ace or Sabo would reprimand him about his behavior- not listening properly or not being careful or not being mindful enough about others’ feelings. He tried to pay attention to what they told him- he really did- but he thought they worried too much. People usually liked him just fine as he was, so he never really put much stock into the idea that there were people he liked that wouldn’t like him back. 

Now he was starting to wonder if maybe they were right after all, and he’d pushed Traffy away with his “unruly behavior”. 

Traffy did complain about Luffy a lot back then. But he just thought it was because Traffy was kind of a grumpy guy in general and not aimed at Luffy in particular. Well, okay,  _ some _ things were definitely aimed at him like jumping on him when he was busy working. But he always got over it! He never stayed mad at Luffy for long, and he was always willing to talk when Luffy was bored. He wouldn’t have done that if he really hated Luffy, would he?

Ugh. All this thinking hurt his brain. And it wasn’t doing any fucking good either, so he resolved to stop thinking like that. Traffy would come around when he was good and ready, and if it took too long then Luffy was just going to have to track him down himself and make him explain why he was avoiding him.

In the meantime, he was going to try and find someone else to hang out with. 

He had no clue how to get back to the infirmary, so finding those guys was out of the question. Being around him seemed to stress them out anyway, so he didn’t really mind. 

It would be nice to spend more time with Sanji, but the other guy didn’t want to be distracted from his work in the kitchen. Apparently, cooking was his main priority in the castle. Luffy could hardly be mad about it when he enjoyed the fruits of Sanji’s labor so often. 

He got the feeling that  Sanji also took care of  Traffy because he was so bad about taking care of himself, but of course he never told Luffy that. It was more of a hunch than anything. Sometimes he would complain about getting someone to “eat their fucking meals when they were hot and ready instead of letting them get cold while because they were too stuck in their own head” which sounded a lot like  Traffy to him. Luffy used to have to make the older man eat with him the first time around.  Sanji did tell him that “the cranky bastard” was at  least getting more sleep though, which was nice.  Traffy suffered from insomnia when Luffy knew him, so he was glad to hear that he was getting more rest now. 

None of this helped solve his problem of finding someone to spend time with however. There was only one other option he could think of. 

“Torao!” he cried, leaping at the white bear when he found him lying in front of a grand fireplace in one of the castle’s numerous unoccupied rooms. Torao startled, but said nothing as he blinked at Luffy in confusion. 

He laughed at the perplexed expression on the other’s face. “I’m bored! Aren’t you lonely all by yourself all the time?” he asked, burrowing into his side. It sure was cozy in here. He peered around to see where the bear had been spending all his time. 

They were lying on top of an intricately woven rug that spanned the whole floor. Hundreds of little figures were portrayed, mythical and human, and it looked almost like it was telling a story. It was hard to tell for sure though since they were sitting splat in the middle near the top of the rug, and Luffy had no intention of moving anytime soon. Leaning against Torao was warm and comfy, and he saw no reason to put a stop to that. 

The bear let out a quiet, rumbling hum. “Not lonely. Used to it,” he said. 

Luffy squirmed around so that he could look him in the eye as he pouted. “What? That’s dumb- everyone needs someone!” he exclaimed. “And you can still be lonely if you’re used to it! But don’t worry! I’ll keep you company, so that way neither of us will have to be lonely anymore!” he laughed brightly. 

“You…are lonely?” Torao rumbled, sounding almost guilty. It was difficult to parse out what the other was feeling when Luffy couldn’t read his expression or the tone of his voice very well. He was pretty sure Torao was frowning at the fire however. 

“Aww, it’s not that bad!” he said, patting him on the shoulder. “I’m just used to being around other people is all. Back home Zoro and I usually hunt together, or I visit Usopp and Nami, and my brothers are always around. Of course, that was back before Sabo was sick- it was kind of lonely being stuck in the house with him. He can’t really do much these days… It’s best if he just sleeps. But it’s hard watching him like that and knowing I can’t do anything to help,” he trailed off, mind swirling with images of his brother lying prone in bed, his labored breathing rattling in his chest. 

A cold nose nudged his cheek, breaking him out of his reverie. Torao gazed at him with his unusual amber eyes, blinking languidly at him as if to ask if he was alright. He buried his hands into the other’s thick pelt and gave him a slightly wobbly smile. 

“I’m okay,” he said wiping at his damp eyes with his sleeve. “I’m just worried about Sabo. Do you know if he’s doing better yet?” he asked hopefully. 

Torao’s eyes seemed to soften further, and he nodded. “Your brother is doing well. The sickness is almost all gone,” he said slowly. 

Luffy instantly lit up, all tears forgotten as he jumped to his feet and let out a whoop. “I knew it!” he cried, despite definitely  _ not _ having known it, given that he asked about his brother’s well being two seconds prior. His companion didn’t bother correcting him though, merely lowering his head back to the floor and resting his eyes. 

Seeing this, Luffy decided that now was as good a time as any to take a nap and joined him back on the rug, curling into his side and immediately falling into a peaceful slumber. 

* * *

After that, Luffy spent every day with Torao, hunting him down and following him around the castle. The bear never said anything to dissuade him from it- probably remembering their short talk about loneliness- but he didn’t seem to mind the young man’s presence. 

He did decide however, that Luffy should have more to do than lean against him and chatter. Evidently he’d grown tired of letting Luffy hang all over him when there was a castle full of rooms to explore. 

Luffy already explained to him that music was uh, not his forte, and the list of rooms that Sanji had banned him from. There were other rooms he hadn’t been to though, and he was interested in seeing those. It was a lot easier getting around with Torao since the other actually knew where things were. Apparently, the near identical hallways didn’t confuse him. 

The bear showed him all sorts of great sights. There was a room that connected to an underground cavern that was full of water. Torao said it was perfectly safe to swim in, but the water was icy cold, and Luffy wasn’t much of a swimmer anyway. He could sort of doggy paddle if it came down to it, but if he ever fell into a lake or river or something, he would just expect Zoro to come save him. And yes, that had happened on occasion when Luffy wasn’t paying attention. 

Torao agreed that Luffy should probably refrain from spending too much time down there then. 

He took him to another room with more instruments, but these ones were set up around plush seats as if awaiting an audience. Sure enough, when they stepped into the room the instruments lifted from their cushions and began playing themselves, calming music flowing in the air. 

They spent the rest of the day in that room, and Luffy could honestly say that he wouldn’t mind going back there again. Torao seemed to like it too, lying on the floor and humming along intermittently. 

Still, they were going to need other rooms to spend time in if they were staying together for the rest of the year. Luffy liked that room, he really did, but there was no way he could spend a year doing nothing but listen to music. Good thing Torao knew plenty of other places to introduce himself to. 

There were no less than ten rooms dedicated to different gardens. Each one seemed to hold its own special wonder and was large enough to fit their small farm in back home. The  ceiling seemed to disappear too, so that all that he could see was the clear blue sky above them. Nonetheless, he could feel that there was a barrier around them, invisible walls that kept them from leaving anywhere except the way they came. 

Definitely magic. He wished Ace was there, so he could rub it in his face.

There was a garden full of vegetables and another full of fruit, both of which Sanji used liberally to feed them with. Another garden was full of wildflowers, a multicolored field that Luffy liked to run and tumble through. Even the ground was sloped gently like it was part of a hill, and the only thing that stopped him as he rolled down was the invisible barrier that he bounced off of near the bottom. 

It didn’t hurt, so he didn’t mind. It was actually kind of fun. Torao refused to roll with him though. Party pooper. 

The room next to it looked like the sort of garden that one would expect from a castle, enchanted or no. It was lined with carefully pruned hedges, stone paths, delicate looking rose bushes, and marble fountains. Garlands of white flowers decorated the perfectly manicured trees along with paper lanterns. The air smelled  perfumed but not overwhelmingly so, and he thought Nami might enjoy it there. Quiet sting music filtered in, although he didn’t know where it came from. 

The room after that was full of poisonous plants, and Torao forbade him from going in there unsupervised. He would have been offended if he didn’t realize that the bear was right. There may have been a time or two in his past where he ate something he shouldn’t have and been chewed out thoroughly by his brothers for it. 

Actually, he might have been chewed out by Traffy for it as well. In that very room, in fact. His memories of his month long stay with Traffy were kind of hazy, but he was pretty sure he’d been in that room before. He was also pretty sure he’d picked off a handful of berries to munch on while Traffy did something or other, which had resulted in the other slapping them out of his hands and shoving his fingers down his throat to get him to puke them back up. 

Hmm. Yeah, he was pretty sure that happened. It was strange… Some parts of his memory were so clear- like leaning over Traffy’s shoulder and watching him work, and all the nonsense things they talked about together. But other details were fuzzy. 

He hadn’t even remembered the great doors to the castle carved with troll faces until he’d seen them on Torao’s back. But once he was standing in front of them, he remembered them perfectly. How could he forget stuff like that, which were so clear to him now, but so distant back home? 

Something was fishy about that, but he didn’t know what. Whatever it was, it must have involved magic. 

He considered asking  Torao about it, but he doubted the bear could answer. He had enough trouble talking to Luffy as it was, and that was just for simple questions like how he was feeling or what he wanted to do next. Better not to trouble him.

They went through all the other gardens in the following days, but  suspicion lurked in the back of Luffy’s mind. There were weird things afoot.

And there was more. 

It was almost embarrassing how long it took before Luffy realized that when he slept at night, someone else joined him in the massive bed. 

It wasn’t like he even noticed at night either. Sabo liked to tease him and Ace that they were as observant as bricks, and it was hard to refute when things like this happened. It wasn’t until two months in that he realized when he woke up in the mornings, the sheets on the other side of the bed were rumpled, despite the fact that he always slept on the same side each night. 

“Sanji, someone was in my bed last night,” he said as he scarfed down his breakfast. 

The blond tossed him a napkin and rolled his eyes. “So? Isn’t he always?”

Luffy almost spat out his food. “You mean they’ve been there before?!” he stammered, eyes wide as saucers. “And it’s a he? Who is it?!”

“Wh- you mean you haven’t noticed before now?” Sanji asked flabbergasted. Luffy shook his head vigorously, and he put his head in his hands, mumbling something Luffy couldn’t quite catch. He could have sworn he said something along the lines of, “Two fucking months. It’s been two fucking months, and he didn’t have a clue. Have to hear him whine about never seeing him, and he doesn’t even realize.”

“What was that?” Luffy asked, leaning closer to try and hear him better. 

Sanji pushed his face away, and scowled. “Nothing!” he snapped. “Eat your damn breakfast. And cover your mouth if you’re going to talk while you eat!”

He refused to say anything more on the topic, leaving Luffy to his own devices. 

He brought it up to Torao later, but he wasn’t very helpful either. 

“Anything…bad happen?” the bear asked, shifting uncomfortably when Luffy inquired about it. They were sitting on the hill of wildflowers, Luffy propped up against his side while they watched clouds drift overhead. 

Luffy scratched the side of his nose. “Well, no. And Sanji made it sound like it’s been happening since I got here! I guess I just never noticed because I was asleep. Ace and Sabo both say that I could sleep through an earthquake,” he joked. 

Torao huffed in a way that Luffy figured out meant he was laughing. 

He smiled up at the bear, pleased that they were really friends now. “I just don’t get why it’s happening. I mean, there’s like a million rooms in the castle. How come he’s sleeping in the same one as me?” 

The bear’s amber eyes flicked away, and he hummed noncommittally. “Must have a reason,” he said after a moment. 

“Huh? Oh yeah. You’re probably right. Hmm. Ah well, I guess it’s not a problem. It’s not like the guy has done anything bad, and I’ve slept just fine anyway!” he said cheerfully. 

Regardless, he was curious about his nightly visitor. There were so few people in the castle, and he highly doubted that it was Sanji climbing into bed with him once the sun had set. The doctors in the infirmary seemed unlikely to be the culprit too, so he crossed them off the list. And Torao was a bear, so it couldn’t be him. That left… Nobody. 

Wait, no. There was one more person he knew visited the castle, even though he never saw him.

But why would he avoid Luffy all day, every day, just to sleep beside him at night? It made no sense. It couldn’t have been. 

But there was a hopeful little part of him that secretly wished that it was, and maybe  Traffy did want to spend time with him after all. That even with everything else going on, he didn’t mind being around Luffy.  Never mind the fact that Luffy was asleep and virtually dead to the world. 

He was just going to have to find out for himself. He resolved to stay awake that night and confront his mysterious bed partner, and if it was Traffy, then great! He could also confront him about avoiding him too, killing two birds with one stone. 

It was easier said than done. 

It took almost a full week before Luffy actually managed to confront him. He tried to stay awake, but well, he’d never been good at that. He liked sleep! So what? That was totally normal. It wasn’t his fault that as soon as he  lay down for the night, his brain immediately shut off, and he was out like a light. 

But eventually the night came that Luffy startled awake, suddenly remembering the task he had assigned himself. It was well into the night by then he guessed, but it was hard to tell for sure. There were no windows in his room, and no candles to light either to check the clock. It wasn’t that important though, and he had more pressing matters because even though he couldn’t see anything, he could hear someone breathing soft and slow nearby, asleep.

“Uh, hello?” he called, crawling closer. The man didn’t stir, not even when Luffy shook him gently. And then not so gently, although he got a soft grunt and hands swatting lethargically at him. Even then, he was certain that the other guy was still asleep. 

But the grunt sounded almost familiar. “Traffy?” he asked, running his hands along the other carefully until he reached the man’s head. His hair was soft and about the same length as Luffy’s. It felt nice to run his hands through- kind of like Torao’s fur. But he was getting distracted. 

“Traffy,” he said a little more insistently, tugging on a strand slightly rougher than necessary and listening carefully to the disgruntled groan that followed. 

It had been years since he’d seen the other or heard his voice, so he couldn’t really be sure… But he thought it was Traffy. It had to be. Who else could it be?

But apparently, he wasn’t going to wake no matter what Luffy did. From what he remembered, Traffy had always been a light sleeper before. If Luffy found him dozing after falling asleep in front of his books, all Luffy had to do was tap him on the shoulder or say his name, and Traffy would wake. Not the case right now. 

Maybe that was why he never told Luffy he was there. Maybe there was some sort of magic going on that kept him from seeing Luffy in the day and talking to him at night. He didn’t know why in the world that would happen, but it was his best guess at that point. 

He sighed, flopping back down on the mattress. He’d have to get a candle or something to check tomorrow. Just to be sure. 

The man’s deep breathing was strangely soothing, and soon enough Luffy found himself struggling to stay awake. He turned to the other man’s back, hesitating for a second before deciding that it couldn’t hurt, and pulling the other figure closer so that their bodies slotted together with Luffy’s front against his back. He buried his face in the man’s neck, breathing in the soft scent of lavender soap- the same kind that Luffy knew was used throughout the castle- and let his eyes slide shut. 

In the morning he would wake alone, but the empty sheets beside him remained warm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao luffy you probs shouldn't be doing that to a strange man in your bed, especially when you don't know if it's traffy or not. Who else could it be??? gee what a question dude


	5. The Scent of Apples

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *drags myself on the ground after the hell that has been the us election cycle and every other fucking thing that has happened this month* here.....a chapter for you...........in these........trying times

Luffy settled into a routine that was scarcely broken the following months. In the morning he would wake up, eat breakfast while chatting with Sanji, and then meet Torao in the library before they explored the rest of the castle. Sometimes Luffy would pick a book off one of the shelves before they left, and he’d have Torao read it to him wherever they settled. It didn’t really matter what kind of book it was to him. Mostly he just liked listening to Torao’s voice. 

It was good practice for Torao too, having to talk so much. His speaking really improved after they started up the habit. There were still some things he struggled with- like long medical sounding words, but Luffy couldn’t really tell the difference anyway. Torao’s face got adorably scrunched up whenever it happened though, like he was offended his mouth couldn’t handle it. 

Today they were working their way through a story about a girl that went around a kingdom sending undead creatures back where they belonged with a set of magic bells. Luffy thought it was really cool, and he would totally go around kicking undead monster butt if given the chance. 

“I’d just ring those bells wherever I went and  _ BAM! _ Problem solved!”

Torao let out one of his rumbling little chuckles, shaking Luffy from his side. “I don’t think that’s how it works.” He carefully smoothed out the pages of the book with a large paw, blowing off a bit of dirt that was left behind. 

“What? It totally would! I could just take out the biggest one and be done with it!” 

“That would kill you too, you know,” Torao said, laughing harder. 

Luffy forwent arguing his point in favor of sitting back to watch Torao. The bear didn’t laugh often enough in his opinion, so it was always a treat when he managed to make it happen- even if unintentionally. 

He wouldn’t say that Torao was usually sad, and most of the time they spend together he’d say he was alright. But at the same time, if pressed, he’d say that Torao seemed unaccustomed to being happy. There were times when they were having fun together, and he’d get a look in his eye like he was almost surprised by the fact that he was enjoying himself. 

Now, Luffy didn’t know much about Torao’s life before he showed up, but he thought it was an awful shame that his friend would be so unused to happiness. 

Luffy’s life was hardly sunshine and daisies all the time, and he’d seen his fair share of hardship, but he was still pretty happy most of the time. He had family and friends that he cared for, who cared for him in return. He may not have had a lot of  worldly possessions, but so what? The few he did have served their purpose and were all  well loved throughout the years. Back home there was blue sky and hills to wander. What more did he really need?

In comparison, Torao had a whole castle full of magic and wonder, yet he was always alone. Sure, Sanji and those guys from the infirmary lived there too, but they never seemed to be around just to spend time with. Occasionally, Sanji would step away from the kitchens to join them, but it wasn’t like he spent day in and day out by their sides. Torao said there used to be other people around before, but they left a while ago. Why, he wouldn’t say, but Luffy got the feeling it wasn’t because they wanted to. And he wasn’t really allowed to leave the castle himself- the time he found Luffy was an anomaly. 

In short, Torao had a lot of things that the villagers back home would kill for, but he didn’t have what Luffy thought was most important. Freedom and company. He lived in a lonely gilded cage. 

Luffy decided early on that he needed to change that. There wasn’t much he could do about them not leaving the castle, but he could definitely do something about the loneliness, and the lack of laughter around there. Every time he succeeded in making Torao laugh, it felt like victory to him. 

Still, there were times when Torao didn’t seem to want to be happy. Sometimes his face would twist with something dark, as if he were  disgusted with the fact that he was enjoying himself. Those were the worst days. If Luffy pushed too hard to try and get him to lighten up, the two would end up snapping at each other, and Torao would go storming off. 

They would always make up before the day was out however, because at least one of them would seek the other out before the sun went down and they could stew over it the whole night. 

It almost made them closer though, to be able to fight between themselves and still want to be together. There was always a sort of unexpected pleasure from Torao finding him to apologize. Not because he wanted the bear to grovel or anything, but because it was nice to know that Torao didn’t want them to fight either. 

So days were pretty good. 

Nights were a whole different matter altogether. 

It had taken time, but eventually he got into the habit of waking up a couple hours in and trying to prod Traffy awake. It was him- he just knew it. What he didn’t know, was how to get the stubborn jerk to wake up. He had tried everything! Poking him, tickling him, hitting him in the shoulder, yelling at him, even flicking water in his face. 

Well, okay, it was more like dumping a glass of water on him, but even that hadn’t worked. Not  _ really.  _ What happened was that he poured the water and Traffy had flailed, smacking Luffy squarely in the face and knocking him unconscious for a bit. He was pretty sure the older man hadn’t really woken up properly though because when Luffy came to, Torao had only shuffled over a little so he was out of the wet spot and invading Luffy’s side of the bed, deep asleep. 

He almost tried shoving him off the mattress to see if he would finally wake up then, but before he did, a little voice told him in his head that it wasn’t a very good idea. If Traffy hadn’t woken up after all that other stuff, why would pushing him off the bed succeed? 

It finally occurred to him that Traffy might not be waking up due to magical influence. He sure didn’t have this issue back the first time he’d been here. The older man had been a light sleeper, and he definitely would have throttled Luffy for trying to any of this shit back then. 

It seemed pretty obvious in retrospect. He felt a little bad about putting Traffy through all that abuse while he was knocked unconscious for reasons he couldn’t help. 

Of course, with the realization that it was magic keeping his friend from waking up, then came the question of why the magic was upon him in the first place. He tried to puzzle over it on his own for weeks before eventually asking Torao and Sanji if they had any ideas. 

Torao had simply told him that he didn’t know and left it at that. Sanji gave him a strained look and ordered him to eat his vegetables or he would shove them down his throat. Later, he took Luffy aside and suggested that Luffy leave the matter alone, so long as Traffy didn’t do him any harm while they spent the night together. It seemed a reasonable suggestion, so Luffy let it go. 

He wished Traffy could wake up and talk to him, but that wasn’t really an option. He settled for talking to Traffy instead, knowing full well that the other couldn’t reply. There was a significant chance he couldn’t even hear Luffy talking to him at night, but he was going to keep doing it anyway. It felt right to talk to him and tell him about his day, even if he wasn’t listening. 

Before he knew it, half a year had passed. 

Every day he got closer and closer to Torao, so that it felt like even after the year was up, he never wanted to leave the bear again. When the year was over he was going to figure out a way to get Torao and Sanji to leave the castle and come back home with him. Did he have any idea how to do that? Absolutely not, but he was going to try!

And he’d have to try and take Traffy with them too. Who knows, he could probably just stick Traffy to a sled in the middle of the night and ride away with the man none the wiser. 

He brought it up with Torao the next morning, but he didn’t seem nearly as excited as Luffy by the idea. In fact, the conversation made him distinctly uncomfortable for the rest of the day. He evaded talking in depth on the subject- which would have been fine, except he didn’t seem to want to talk much about  _ anything _ after that. All his answers were short and to the point, and he had a hard time meeting Luffy’s eyes. 

Luffy tried everything to cheer him up. He told jokes, tried to convince him to roll down the hillside with him, asked Sanji to make Torao’s favorite food for lunch, and tried to read to him instead for once. It was no use though. Nothing worked. 

He was midway through recounting a story about hunting with  Zoro when Torao abruptly got to his feet and walked off. Luffy, who had been leaning against the bear’s side prior to that moment, flopped rather gracelessly onto his back where he stared at the ceiling for the next few seconds. Once his senses returned to him, and he realized what happened, he scrambled to his feet and chased after his friend. 

“Torao! Where are you going?”

He didn’t stop, didn’t turn to look at him, didn’t give any sign of noticing him at all. He simply continued stalking down the hallway, lamps flickering to life as they went. 

“Aw, come on, Torao! What’s wrong? Was it something I said? Dis you not like the story? Of did you want to read something instead? Hey, slow down a second!”

He punctuated his last statement with a tug on the other’s ear, making Torao glare at him. It wasn’t exactly the ideal reaction he was looking for, but it was something. And it wasn’t like Torao would hurt him or anything, even if he was mad at Luffy. Although he didn’t understand what Torao was upset about in the first place. If only the other would  _ talk  _ to him, then maybe they could figure things out. 

“You should go find something else to do.” The curt reply was all he got before Torao started walking off again, even faster than before. 

Well, Luffy didn’t like that one bit. If Torao was going to be stubborn, then that was fine, but two could play at that game! And Luffy was determined to win. 

He launched himself at the bear’s side, clinging to his fur. “NO!”

Torao stumbled for a split second but regained his footing with little trouble. A deep growl rumbled in his chest that Luffy could feel throughout his entire body. “Luffy, let go.”

Honestly, they’d known each other for months- Torao should have known better than to try and order Luffy around. It usually resulted in the opposite effect of whatever was being asked of him. This time was no exception of course, and Luffy merely gripped tighter to his friend’s pelt. 

“No! Tell me what’s wrong!”

“Nothing!” he snapped, continuing briskly down the hall to who knows where. Luffy would try to look around and check, but it was taking most of his concentration just to hold on. He wasn’t exactly in the most secure position, and now that Torao was moving again, it was even more difficult. Stupid Torao. Why couldn’t he just hold still and let Luffy cling to his side while he told him what was upsetting him like a normal person. Never mind the fact that he was, you know, a magical talking bear. 

Luffy was starting to lose his temper though. How hard was it to admit what was wrong? He always voiced it right away whenever he didn’t like something, and it usually meant that whatever was happening was fixed! If only Torao could wrap his fat head around the concept, they could get it over and done with!

“Something’s obviously bothering you, Torao! Just tell me what, so we can deal with it!”

“It’s not your job to deal with my problems!”

He finally let go so that he could run in front of the bear and get right in his face. “ Yes it is ! That’s what  friends do!”

“I’m not your friend!” he burst out. “Your real friends are out in the world living their lives, while you waste away in here, just to keep me company.” His lips curled in disgust, and something dark simmered in his eyes as he glared at Luffy’s feet. “I’m just the one who took you from them- took you away from your  _ home _ .”

It felt like all the air was sucked out of the building at once. All Luffy could do was blink at him stupidly until Torao huffed and pushed by him, snapping him out of his stupor. 

“Wha- Torao, wait! Don’t be like that!” he said,  running after him. “Stop being dumb!” he shouted, stopping only to pull off a shoe and chuck it at him. 

Another growl and glare, but hey, at least it got him to stop. 

Luffy stumbled up to him, leaning against him while he put his shoe back on. “What? You  _ are  _ being dumb! Of course we’re friends! Just because I have other friends, doesn’t mean you’re not my friend too! And quit with your dumb talk about making me leave or whatever. I agreed to come! It’s not like you made me. And if I really wanted to go back, you’d let me- don’t try and argue, you know it’s true! 

“Besides, I like it here. I mean, yeah, I’m going to leave  _ someday _ , but it’s nice here. Is this all because I was talking about leaving? I wasn’t going to go without you, you know!”

He nudged him with his shoulder and smiled. “Come on, Torao- don’t be so glum! We can figure out how to get you out of here later. Let’s go see if Sanji will give us a treat! Then we can go explore one of the rooms you haven’t shown me yet! We haven’t done that in a while, and I think it’ll be fun!”

Calling Torao pleased after that would have been an exaggeration. Calling him marginally okay would have been more accurate, but still kind of iffy. He was, however, better than he had been a few minutes before, so that would do for now. 

He led the two of them down a hall Luffy was fairly certain he’d never been down before- it was so hard to tell when they all looked so similar- and gently pushed him into a room with tall flowers lining the walls. 

They’d spent a lot of time in the various gardens in the castle, but this one wasn’t anything like the other ones. For one, the ceiling looked exactly like that- a  ceiling . In the gardens, the ceilings were all enchanted to look like the sky outside. Here it was just regular white plaster. Also, plants usually filled up most of the space in the other rooms, or had nice groomed pathways to walk through them. In this room, everything was bare, except for the stalks along the walls, separated at even intervals. Even the flowers looked weird. There was only one bud on each stalk, and they were all the same height, despite being different types of blossoms. 

“What’s this?” he asked, leaning in close to inspect a bright red one. 

Torao nudged him carefully aside, and lifted a paw to gently press against the top of the flower. A wispy red cloud emerged from it, bringing the smell of fresh baked cherry pie. 

“Whoa! That’s so cool!” he shouted, fanning the perfume in his direction so he could smell it better. “Do they all smell like different things then?”

He nodded and gestured for Luffy to try one on his own. 

Luffy bounced over to a one that faded from pale greenish yellow to red and looked eagerly at Torao until the bear wandered closer. Then he reached out and gave it a mighty squeeze, prompting it to shoot out a massive scented cloud that hit Torao right in the face. 

“ _ Gently,  _ you little menace,” Torao coughed out, giving himself a good shake and batting at the air with his paw. 

“Shishishi- sorry, Torao! You smell nice though!” The aroma of ripe apples wafted around them, making his mouth water. The cherry pie scent would have done that too, if not for the memory of a particularly bad slice he’d tried last year a couple villages over. Man, that pie sucked. Apples though, those were delicious. He liked apples a lot. 

He moved on to test out a different one that was vivid yellow, pressing it softly this time and getting a small cloud of lemon scented perfume. 

They continued on like that until Luffy had tested every single flower in the room- some fifty or so. It was a lot of fun for him to try and guess what everything was, although sometimes he had to have Torao tell him. Like coconuts- what the hell were those? Whatever they were, they smelled nice. Torao told him that sometimes Sanji used them in cooking, and that there were some in one of the gardens that he could show him later. 

He made sure to press the flowers very lightly at Torao’s suggestion to ensure that the mixture of scents didn’t get too heady and force them to leave prematurely. By the end of it, Sanji showed up to tell them that dinner was ready, and they scampered on back to the dining room. 

Well, he called it the dining room because  that’s where they usually ended up eating, but Sanji assured him it was not the  _ actual _ _ _ dining room, which was much grander and suited to fit many more people in it. The room Luffy and Torao used was just an extra room with a fireplace and some furniture that got moved in there after Luffy chose it. 

Torao was in a much better mood by then, and it was like the morning had never happened. A huge relief for Luffy. 

And he couldn’t help bursting into laughter when Sanji paused by Torao to tell him he reeked of apples. 

After dinner they curled up on the floor and Luffy listened while Torao read him a story about pirates that sailed the skies and fought beasts of the air. It was  pretty cool ,  but he was  kind of tired , and sitting there all warm and cozy made him  sort of sleepy . He dozed off at some point, and the next thing he knew he was waking to a  pitch black room, nestled safely in his bed. 

He rubbed the grit out of his eyes and listened closely. 

And there it was- the quiet sound of someone breathing slow and deep in slumber nearby. He reached out tentatively until his hand met Traffy’s shoulder then let his hand slide down his neck and into his hair, where he ran his fingers through the strands. 

A soft noise escaped the other’s lips, and he smiled at the way Traffy pressed back into the touch. He scooted closer and lay down, pulling the other man closer so their bodies were slotted together like puzzle pieces. 

“Torao had a rough morning,” he said, voice low. “I told him I was going to take you all away from here, but he didn’t believe me. He just thought I was going to leave him. How dumb is that?”

He nuzzled into the back of his companion’s neck. “Well, I’m telling you, and you better believe me. When the year is up, I’m getting you all out of here, magic or not. And nothing’s going to stop me- not even if I have to fight off a hundred trolls to do it.

“I promise,” he whispered against his skin.

When he drifted off again, it was with a hint of apple on his lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is a little shorter on account of me taking fucking forever to write it lmao
> 
> it was driving me nuts bro beans. had to get it over with. idk WHAT is going on, it just was not happening lol. anyone see that meme abt it being no write november??? that's a me bby.
> 
> it's funny tho cuz this fic actually like doesn't have THAT much left to it in comparison to....all my other ones lol. i mean hunger for the absolute and half light both have way more posted to them, and they're like just barely the tip of the fucking iceberg in terms of plot so like lord almighty save me lmao


End file.
